A house is left on the edge after a Slip in Beach Haven. Video / Chris Keall
A huge cliff collapse during the winter at Beach Haven has been deemed a “natural occurrence” and the owner of a home above committed no breaches, an authority has found.
Kerri Fergusson, Auckland Council’s compliance response and investigation manager, said movement beneath a new house at 52 Brigantine Dr onthe waterfront was not the owner’s fault.
“After completing the investigation into the cause of the slip, it was deemed that there were no breaches committed by the property owners at Brigantine Drive. Therefore, no enforcement action will be taken. The slip was deemed to be a natural occurrence following periods of unsettled weather and severe rain, and there is no further practical action that can be taken. A letter has been sent to the property owners urging them to be mindful of future possible risks, should the slip regress further,” Fergusson said today.
The Herald reported on the situation at the property overlooking Charcoal Bay where on July 15, a massive slip occurred on the cliff which Paul Carter, a senior geotechnical engineer, attributed partly to rainfall.
A new multi-million dollar house was built on the site, completed around Easter last year, and questions were raised about whether that had any effect on the cliff beneath.
But in August, Ross Roberts, Auckland Council’s engineering resilience head and a geotechnical engineer, said the new house was “very unlikely” to have had any effect on the cliff beneath. Council staff were continuing to monitor the situation but he held no fears for people’s safety.
Cliff collapse beneath the Brigantine Dr home, finished last Easter. Photo / supplied
Asked about the weight of the new multi-level house on the site the council said had never previously been built on, Roberts said it was “very unlikely” that weight was a contributing cause.
“This house is surrounded by a piled wall and those piles were buried 8m down,” he stressed. “So that house is not having any effect on the cliff. The only way the house could be affected is if it was literally on top of the landslide - and it’s not. The house shouldn’t make any difference to the cliff stability because it’s far enough back.
“There’s been comments raised about how much concrete went into the piles and palisade wall. But the concrete went into the foundations and actually replaced rock so there’s not much difference in weight.”
The massive cliff fall beneath 52 Brigantine Drive. Photo / Supplied
Chris Darby, an Auckland councillor and former planning committee chairman, expressed alarm about the cliff failure and said he was focused on what had caused that.
The Herald also reported how the council twice took action for non-consented works below the house where cliffs collapsed.
In August, Fergusson said two abatement notices had already been issued to homeowner Ben Wilson: the first in 2019 and the second this year.
Non-consented vegetation and stair construction works were carried out below his place above Charcoal Bay, she said. Council documents say he admitted to carrying out the vegetation work. Pine trees and natives were removed because he believed they were dangerous, council documents showed.
Fergusson told the Herald: “Investigations are ongoing but there is currently no evidence to suggest that the unconsented works were the cause of the recent slips.”
The first abatement notice was issued on May 23, 2019 over vegetation vanishing.
The stairs on the council reserve down to the beach. Photo / Supplied
“Following an area of vegetation and pine tree removal within a significant ecological area and also a large amount of earthworks on the council reserve, an abatement notice was issued to the property owner.
“The conditions of the notice required them to install sediment control, remove the loose soil, provide a geotech report, provide a restorative planting plan and to carry out and maintain the restorative planting.
“The owner has complied with all conditions of this abatement notice, noting that it has a four-year maintenance period for the planting, which is still active.”
After the tree issue, stairs were then discovered to have been built in the council reserve. A neighbour says those stairs remain and did not fall in the cliff collapse.
Fergusson said: “In 2022, we were alerted to the unauthorised construction of stairs on the council reserve, and a second abatement notice was issued. This has been appealed and is currently before the courts.”
When asked to comment on the situation in August, Wilson said he was “all consumed” with family matters and referred the Herald to the council.
